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Central Hudson Proposes Running Amazon-Like Exchange for Energy Management Products and Services (Utility To Act As "Go-To" Source for Customers About Energy)

July 2, 2015

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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Karen Abbott • kabbott@energychoicematters.com

Central Hudson Gas & Electric has proposed as a Reforming the Energy Visions product developing an Amazon-like online exchange for customers to purchase, "energy management products and services."

Named "Central-E: Your Energy Exchange", the online platform would "guide" customers to third-party products and services by recommending a relevant list tailored to their highly personalized, home energy profile.

"Central Hudson will share revenue with the exchange providers while enabling an engaging and innovative customer experience," the utility said.

Central Hudson expects to receive a payment equal to 10% of the gross margin a third-party partner earns for products and services sold through Central-E.

Central Hudson will also sell advertising space to vendors seeking to highlight their product offerings and to assist in lowering third party’s customer acquisition costs.

Central Hudson could facilitate lower customer acquisition costs by the selling of data or by billing goods and services on behalf of third party providers. Central Hudson could sell, for example, outage information by circuit to vendors seeking to install home generators in residential neighborhoods.

Central Hudson did not provide specific criteria of what services may be offered through the site, and whether energy supply may be offered on the platform

For what it's worth, retail energy suppliers, however, were not specifically highlighted as potential third-party vendors.

Central Hudson listed potential vendors using the exchange as including its already existing network of 400-plus trade allies participating in its energy efficiency programs -- electricians and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractors

"This model can be built out with other service providers such as solar installers, home back-up generator contractors and the like. Eventually, this exchange will evolve to increase participation of contractors from all trade disciplines and grow the customers on the exchange," Central Hudson said.

"As the go-to source of information for energy products, Central Hudson will serve as the primary facilitator of its customers’ energy-related experiences," the utility said

Notable is that customers will be able to review third-party providers on the site.

"In the future, customers will be able to rank and review these trade allies for other customers’ benefit," Central Hudson said.

"Customers trust reviews and insights from their peers. Central-E allows customers to post their comments in a virtual community setting," the utility said

Central Hudson will establish (1) customer ratings and reviews, (2) minimum customer satisfaction rankings, (3) customer resolution of vendor issues, and (4) adhering to current privacy protections. Central-E will offer a customer rating and review section to evaluate a third party’s products and services.

Central Hudson will establish minimum customer satisfaction requirements for vendors as a condition to continue to offer their products and services. Central Hudson will also be involved in mediating and/or resolving customer disputes with vendors.

"The community feel is extended through the use of gamification techniques where customers have the ability to earn points and badges. These points can build for customers to receive incentives such as gift cards and discounted purchases. Customers can track their progress, view leaderboards and participate in weekly challenges while benchmarking themselves against their peers," the utility said.

Central Hudson itself will offer an advanced data analytics package starting at a base price of $4.99 per month for customers who wish to receive more timely and personalized data than what is offered through their traditional meter readings and standard Central-E experience. With this information, customers will have the ability to:

• view energy consumption by day,

• correlated energy consumption with average daily temperature,

• drill down and view energy consumption by hour,

• view detailed consumption since their last billing period,

• set bill and usage alerts,

• participate in differing rate structures and demand response programs.

Central Hudson proposes that the exchange launch in 2016 and run as a demonstration until June 2018

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